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Episode 190: Jan Švankmajer's Everyday Nightmares
Show Notes : We discuss Jan Švankmajer, the master of surrealist puppetry and stop motion, and his feature films ALICE and LITTLE OTIK. Films Discussed * Directed by Jan Švankmajer ** Alice (1988) ** Faust (1994) ** The Last Trick (1964) ** Meat Love (1988) ** Little Otik (2000) ** Insects (2018) * The Czech Year (1947) Dir. Jiří Trnka * Basket Case (1982) Dir. Frank Henenlotter * Eraserhead (1977) Dir. David Lynch Discussion Notes * Jan Švankmajer - Czech surrealist director and animator ** Movies for the dark and twisted child in your family *** Will - "if Tim Burton had turned into Luis Buñuel" ** Loves texture and weight, pushing everyday things into the absurd and obscene ** Not loved in his home country * The semantics of animating vs. puppeteering * Alice ** An unsentimental and unsettling look back on childhood and Alice in Wonderland ** Fantasia by way of Terry Gilliam * Little Otik ** Will - It's "a visual attack on the audience" ** Švankmajer is quoted saying "It's whatever metaphor you want it to be" * Our hosts discuss the merits of practical animation vs. CGI ** Justin - "If you can have anything, nothing has any meaning" Listener Letters * Clemence from Vienna - ** Had a 20-episode binge on a plane - listener heaven, or ICC hell? * Could our hosts discuss Austrian cinema? ** Ulrich Seidl - auteur director *** Dog Days (2001) *** The Paradise Trilogy (2012) *** In the Basement (2014) *** Safari (2016) * Letterboxd - shining light on little movies ** The Nobodies (2018) Dir. Jay Burleson ** Splatter Farm (1987) Dir. Mark Polonia, John Polonia & Todd Michael Smith * Carlos - * Could our hosts discuss the Scorsese vs. Marvel drama? * What is 'cinema'? ** Our hosts - Cinema means film as an art, not as a consumer product * Why are people so angry? ** More people are defining themselves by what they like ** Having a small field of what you like means that a dismissal of that like is a dismissal of you * Justin - Comic book sales down, comic movie sales through the roof * Remember superhero movies before Disney? ** Steel (1997) Dir. Kenneth Johnson ** Spawn (1997) Dir. Mark A.Z. Dippé Post-Outro Discussion * Viy 2: Journey to China: The Mystery of the Iron Mask (2019) Dir. Oleg Stepchenko ** Starring Jackie Chan & Arnold Schwarzenegger, faded powerhouses of action films ** Sequel to Viy (2014) Oleg Stepchenko, *** Which was itself a remake of Viy (1967) Dir. Konstantin Yershov & Georgi Kropachyov * Our hosts thoughts on the film ** Will - Remembers the experience like a kidnapping victim ** Justin - *snoring sounds* * Our hosts pine for the stunts of a younger Jackie Chan * Films discussed regarding modern Chinese film-making style ** Hero (2002) Dir. Zhang Yimou ** The Promise (2005) Dir. Chen Kaige ** The Banquet (2006) Dir. Feng Xiaogang ** Chinese Zodiac (2012) Dir. Jackie Chan ** Kung Fu Yoga (2017) Dir. Stanley Tong Category:Episodes Category:Jan Švankmajer Category:International Cinema Club